Death Note: A New Chapter
by XxVongola-DetectivexX
Summary: What if L's original successor had lived through his suicide attempt and tried to live a normal life after leaving Wammy's House? Things won't be that easy as an eerily familiar murder case will cause him to take up his title once again and work with L's current successor, Near, to solve it. But just how personal will this case be for A?
1. Chapter 1

_**Alternative**_

_You __have to be ready to replace him if something happens._

_You're the only one who can take over if he dies._

_You have to be ready to finish all his cases, to live up to his reputation, to BE him._

_All these thoughts are too much for this mind to bare…all this pressure is simply too much,_ he thought to himself as he stood up on the chair, the rope held tightly in his hands.

"I can't be who they need me to be" he said with a shaky voice, "I can't live with this pressure anymore of being the alternative, the replacement of the worlds' greatest detective..."

He took one last look around his room at Wammy's House, the only home he's ever known, as he put the rope around his neck. He looked at the small wooden desk against the back wall that he spent his days studying, preparing for the time when he may have to take his predecessors role. He turned and looked at the simple bed he slept on, for an orphanage the beds, like most everything in the house, looked much nicer than what you would find in other orphanages, possibly do to the owner, Quillsh Wammy having a small fortune due to being such an ingenious inventor.

"L," the young man spoke to himself in the empty room, "I can't handle it anymore…the stress and pressure of replacing you if anything happens…I can't handle it…I can't handle being your successor…being your alternative…being A."

With that, the man known only as A to all except Wammy and L kicked the chair over, and as his consciousness faded him, he couldn't help but think_ '__I'm sorry'_ to everyone he was leaving.

To Wammy, the man who had found him abandoned and unwanted and took him in off the street when he was only a child, to all of the other children at the orphanage that he had spent so much time with, and to his closest friend known to all but him as his alias…B who would now have to face the burden of replacing L…of being his backup.

He was sorry for leaving all of them in this kind of manner.

And to L…the man himself who A was meant to replace, he was sorry. He felt as though he was abandoning him…but he did not feel as sorry as he did for the others…despite the respect he had for L's skill, he resented L, for all the pressure he was put under because of having to be his replacement.

With that, unable to hold out any longer, his consciousness finally escaping him, his eyes closing; it was finally going to be over for him.

At least that is what he had thought…

"A!" A voice called out to him, "A! What are you doing? Watari! Anybody! Help!"

The voice became too distant for him to make out anymore…

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Notes

I'm sorry for how short this chapter is. Try and think of this as sort of a prologue, visualizing the suicide of A that was briefly mentioned in the BB murder case. The other chapters will be much longer I promise you, I just wanted to get the suicide scene written and posted and see what you guys think.

Any praise or criticizing comments are appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Departure_**

A's eyes opened, and the light peering in through the shades was extremely bright to him.

"Finally awake I see," said a voice next to him "let me close those blinds for you, they're directing the light right into your eyes it seems."

A looked around the room he was in.

The walls were bright white, a few beds lay across on the opposite wall with curtains separating them, tables next to all of them possibly to put flowers on them for whoever ends up in those beds.

As his eyes finally adjusted, he looked over at the one who had closed the blinds for him.

A man with a white coat down to the floor, glasses, some light brown khakis and a pair of shoes to match. Everything about this man matched the description of your typical doctor to A's eyes.

"I'm glad to see your up," he finally said to break the silence, "I'm Dr. Lewis, I've been looking after you while you've been hospitalized here."

"I see," was all A could manage to see to the man before him.

"Well let's take a good look at you," The doctor said grabbing a chart off the end of the bed A resided in "Let's see, says here you're about 5'10, 135 pounds, seems to be in fairly good health," the doctors look became a worried one as he came to the bottom of the chart, "In for asphyxiation…a suicide attempt"

And with that it came back to him.

"I…I lived?" A asked astonished, remembering his attempt to take his own life, "How did I-"

"One of your friends came in and found you shortly after kicking the chair over it seems. You were cut you down and raced to get here Mr. Smith. You're quite lucky to have survived," the doctor said, reading the end of A's question before he could finish it.

"Smith?" A questioned

"John Smith" the doctor said, "that is your name isn't it? It's the one your friend gave when he brought you in."

_Who would pick such a cliché_- before he could finish his thought A noticed an open box of sweets on the table next him._ Of course, HE picked it, never was very original with making up other people's names_

"Yeah, that's right, sorry I guess I kind of forgot it there for a second," A said to the doctor looking down at him.

"Quite understandable giving what you've been through" the doctor stated, "Your friend is down in the lobby, would you like me to bring him in? I'm sure he's worried sick about you," The doctor asked.

"Whatever, sure", A said, turning from the doctor and facing the wall.

"I'll go and fetch him then," the doctor said with a smile, "I'll have him here in just a moment."

The doctor headed for the door and was soon out of the room.

A didn't want to wait in bed however, and the fact that he had to pee wasn't helping convince him to, so he got out of his bed and headed for the bathroom in the corner of the room. Once he had finished with his business, he looked at himself in the mirror.

A young man, only 14 at most, his hair was black as could be, and quite unruly. His skin wasn't quite pale, but still fairly white as he didn't tan well, only burned he thought before letting out a chuckle.

Finally he looked down to see what he was wearing. The same black short sleeve t-shirt and blue jeans he had worn the night he attempted to end it all.

When he finally left the bathroom he saw, not much to his surprise, someone who could have easily been mistook as his brother, crouched in the chair next to his bed, eating the sweets from the box left on his table.

The man looked as though he couldn't have been out of his early twenties by much, if even that, he had long dark hair like A, only much messier, pale white skin, dark bags under his eyes, and wearing a long sleeved white shirt and blue jeans. There was no doubt as to who the person before him was.

"Hello L," A stated at the person before him "Or do you prefer Ryuzaki in public?"

"Hello A, or do you prefer Mr. Smith in public?" L asked looking back at him.

"Very funny, why couldn't you have at least come up with something more original?" He asked.

"I simply like the name," L said blatantly to A, "And as for rather or not a prefer Ryuzaki, I've never cared which name I use, they're all just a name that isn't mine, though it seems as though your dear friend B is making it his preferred name I understand."

"Well he is your back up, of course he's going to imitate you somewhat," A said with his head turned away from L.

"So are you," L said looking at the sweet he held between his thumb and pointer finger "is that why you imitate my posture so much?"

A hadn't even noticed that he was standing hunched over like L does whenever he stands up and walks around.

"It's just a bad habit of picked up from you is all," A stated, trying to act uncaring about it to his predecessor.

"I see," L said looking at him.

The two then sat in silence for what could have only been minutes but felt like hours to the two of them.

"So who was it?" A said, finally breaking the silence between the two, "Who found me and brought me here?"

"B found you," L told him, "He was coming to let you know dinner was ready. He screamed for Watari to get you down, and then kept giving you CPR until the ambulance finally came.

A looked down at the floor.

He's really upset you know. You've been here for three days now, and Watari hasn't let him come visit you. He said you need rest and having him here wouldn't be a very…restful…environment for you," He finished.

"You're the reason I'm here in the first place. Having everyone stress how important you are, and how I'm supposed to be just as good as the great detective L in case you end up kicking the bucket, how I'm supposed to just be able to pick up all your cases, all your responsibilities at the drop of a hat if you kill over, the pressure of having to be good enough to succeed you, of having to BE you when you're gone, how is that supposed to make this a 'restful' environment for me?!" he said, his voice rising ever so slightly.

"Because Adam," L said, seemingly uncaring of A's tone of voice or the sharp look given to him at saying his real name "I agree with Watari…you deserve to rest…"

"Oh so you CAN call me by my name, I'm not just a letter to you anymore?" A said with the same tone of resentment still in his voice "what the hell are you getting at anyway?"

"If I gave you a way out of this life full of stress and pressure, would you take it?" L asked, looking at his visually distraught would-be successor.

"Of course I would!" A shouted at him, "I never even wanted this life to begin with! I was just some kid on the street, abandoned by my parents because they were tired of having another mouth to feed, then some guy picks my up and brings me to his orphanage saying that I can make a new family, and then as soon as I start showing some intelligence I'm being prepped to become the replacement of YOU the first person I met in that place, being told that if and when you die I have to take over for you, and I've been having to live with that pressure for the past 10 years! Of course I want a way out!"

"Even if taking it meant leaving everyone you've become friends with? If it meant leaving your friends alone with the same pressure you've had to face all these years?" L asked, his eyes focused on A as though he was analyzing him.

A was taken aback by this question, he hadn't thought of leaving his best friend, Beyond, at that place by himself, or that it would now be up to him to have the responsibility of living up to the role of being L's new replacement.

"Well that was always the plan I couldn't cut it right?" he asked, his eyes staring at floor "I was your alternative and he was the backup, A and B. That was always the plan wasn't it?"

L sat in his favored hunch position in silence for moment.

"That is correct," he finally answered.

"Well he's more suited for the role of being your successor anyway, he's always going on about how he'll surpass the great detective L one day" A said, raising his head back up, "That guy…would probably prove to be one of your greatest challenges if he ever went against you."

"That is true, he is almost at my intelligence level, and he is quite resourceful, but then again," L went from eating his sweets to looking back at A "so are you."

"Whatever," A shrugged ,"What's this plan you have to get me out of this anyway?" he asked, trying to get back on the original subject.

"Simple. You leave," L said nonchalantly, "no one other than myself from Wammy's knows that you are alive right now. They know that you attempted to commit suicide, but not rather or not you succeeded."

A looked at L questionably wondering what he was on about.

"If they all believe you to be dead," L continued, "then what will keep you from leaving? They will have no reason to look for a dead person, so you will be able to leave and never hear from anyone there again. I can arrange for a reasonable amount of funds be transferred to an account set up for you to live on. Would that be what you want?

A pondered this idea for a moment, bouncing it around in his mind it was many minutes of silence before he finally spoke.

"Just," he looked at his soon to be former predecessor, "pick a name besides John smith this time."

His mind was made up, he was leaving Wammy's, this life, and, hard as it may be, his best friend forever.

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Notes

Please leave reviews to let me know how to improve the story to keep you guys interested and entertained, and criticism is great as long as it's constructive. Hope you enjoyed this chapters and the chapters to come.


	3. Chapter 3

_** A Final Meeting**_

"Why are you here," Alex asked the hunched figure before him.

"It's already been a year since you left A," the figure stated calmly.

"Yeah and I've enjoyed the quiet, and don't call me that anymore. Now tell me why you're here L," A said to him, not caring to hide the irritation in his voice, "You said I'd never here from anyone at Wammy's again once I left and this is twice you've shown up."

L sat in silence for a moment before speaking, "I just thought you should know…he's been caught."

"I see," A said with his voice lowered and eyes shifted down, "Just another mark for the worlds' greatest detective it seems."

"I wasn't the one who caught him really," L said sipping his coffee before starting to put hands full of sugar in it, "It was an FBI agent I asked to help that did the leg work and caught him, I was merely looking into it and asked her to help when you didn't want to."

"Of course, let other people do the leg work and get their hands dirty while you sit behind a computer screen looking over the evidence and enjoying your sweets," Alex said with spite in his voice.

"It's true," L said taking another sip of his coffee "I do enjoy my sweets when working. After all I need calories because the brain burns up most calories while you're thinking and since I'm always thinking I always need calories."

A rolled his eyes not wanting to try and argue that that wasn't his point.

He walked over to a drawer next to his bed and picked up a frame with a picture in it. There were two boys with an arm around each other's neck smiling.

"That's the picture you asked me to get for you before leaving isn't it?" L asked looking at A as he stared sorrowfully at the picture in his hand "the only picture that exists of you and B? I am sorry that this happened. Truly," L said looking at his former successor.

"Yeah, I know," A said, without looking away from the photograph, "I just wonder…if I'm the reason he did it."

L seemed to understand what he was getting at but cut him short.

"I doubt he did any of this because of you. He stated himself when the agent went to visit him in prison to ask why he did it that it was simply because he wanted to prove that he was better than me by giving me a crime I couldn't solve. He would have succeeded to if not for that agents help."

A didn't seem to be listening.

L continued anyways, "I'll be leaving for Japan soon," he said laying his coffee cup down on the table, "there are a string of mysterious deaths happening. Criminals are suddenly dying of heart attacks regardless of age or health. I would like you to come with me; I may need help with this case," L said

A laid the picture frame back in its spot on the drawer and looked over at L, hunched over waiting for his answer.

"No thanks," he said flatly, "I told you when you first asked me to help catch Beyond, I'm not a part of your world anymore and I have no intention of going back to it," He said, not wanting to return to the world that had pushed him into trying to take his own life.

"Well then, if that's truly how you feel then this will truly be," L stood up hunched over in his usual unusual standing position and paused for a moment, "our last time meeting each other."

A just snickered.

"Until the next time something happens and you ask me to help with that too right?" he asked with a sarcastic grin.

"No," L said bluntly "This case…feels like my last one, so this will be our final meeting with each other. I am sure of this."

"Tsk. Whatever you say," A replied rolling his eyes once more, unconvinced by his predecessors' words "Just means I can be left in peace then."

"Peace," L said, turning to look back at A, "is a very delicate thing. It is hard to find and harder to keep. But it is very easy to lose."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," A retorted "is there anything else or can I get ready for bed? I've been working all day and I would like to get some sleep."

"By all means," L said taking his cup, now deprived of the muddy substance he called coffee "I must hurry and catch my plane anyway, the sooner I start this case the sooner I can end it and start another one to bother you with."

"I thought you were sure this was our last meeting," A said looking at L with a tiresome look.

"For my sake," L said now walking towards the door "I hope I am wrong. Goodbye…A" he said before leaving the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

A let out a short sigh.

"I said not to call me that anymore, my name is Adam." he spoke quietly to his self as he turned to look over at the picture of him and B, "he really was a lot like you L. I still wonder if it was my fault he challenged you."

He began walking towards his bed.

_Maybe he hated you,_ he thought to himself _Maybe he wanted to pay you back for all the pressure I felt that led to what I did. Maybe he blamed you for all of it and just wanted revenge for me._His mind started to shut down, _What if everything he did was because of…or rather for me. Or…I wonder if maybe…she made him..._

He couldn't think on the subject anymore, his mind finally turning off and accepting sleeps embrace.

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Notes

Huzza! Chapter 3 is out! :D I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. And who is this "she?" A is thinking about? All in due time my readers, all in due time :3

As always, praise and constructive criticism are welcome and appreciated. Until the next installment, peace out.


	4. Chapter 4

_**The Killer Message**_

_Six years later_

"Please stop this," the young girl said with a strained voice, "don't do this anymore!"

"Oh?" said the person in the room with her, "why should I stop? We're just getting to the best part."

A wide and wicked smile came across the soon to be killer's face, striking even more fear into the terrified girls' heart. They grabbed a scalpel lying on the table and tilted their head side to side as though they were examining the object.

"Besides," they continued, "I need you, or rather…your body, to help get a message to someone," The killer spoke through the awful smile still spread across their face.

"I need to see if they are as good as someone else I knew," They said as they walked back towards the girl.

The girl didn't understand what the person before her meant, but wanted nothing to with it.

She began to struggle, but to no avail. The restraints on her arms and legs refused to budge.

The killer saw her struggling and the smile turned into a frown as their eyes gazed down at the frightened girl.

"Now now," They said as the grabbed her face in their free hand, "If I didn't know any better I'd say you don't want to help me send my friend my message."

"Of course I don't you psycho!" the girl shouted as she shook her face free of the hand grasping it, "You're insane! What's the reason for all of this?"

She continued to struggle against the restraints that bound her face down against the wooden table she was laid upon, but it was pointless, they wouldn't give even an inch for her efforts to get out of them.

"Reason?" the killer asked, tilting their head, "I already told you, I need to get a message to someone, and I need your help to get it to him. I want to play a little game with him."

They raised the young girls' shirt with the scalpel, exposing her bare back.

"Yes," they said examining her back "You should work perfectly for my little game I have planned."

The killer started running the scalpel in her back, carving letters into the poor girls back side. Blood began seeping from her open wounds and tears poured from her eyes as she screamed in pain from the scalpel cutting into her bare flesh.

"Please!" she started to beg, "Stop doing this, I can't stand it!"

"Very well," the would-be-killer said, removing the scalpel from her back, "It was going to come to this eventually I'm afraid, all part of the message and the game you see."

They grabbed the girl by her hair and put the scalpel against her throat.

"Good bye young miss."

"No plea-"

She couldn't finish her plea to the killer. Nor could she ever make another.

"Now then, let's finish that message. I would like for him to get it as soon as possible."

The killer went to finish the message, no longer hearing the horrified screams from their victim, but simply the sound of 'drip, drip, drip' coming from the crimson red liquid flowing from her neck, down the table, and on to the floor.

When the message was finished, they took a picture of the lifeless girls' body.

"Now then," they spoke to their self as though what they did was perfectly normal, "Let's get this off to Wammy's so my little game can get started."

The killer cackled at the thought of their game finally getting on its' way and how the player would react to seeing a challenge from them.

They left the building they had been residing in and went to send their challenge.

_The Next Day_

In a dark room, surrounded by computers, and toys covering the floor, a young boy with snow white hair was looking at his personal computer and twirling part of his hair with his finger.

"How boring," the boy said, looking through a number of case files pulled up on his computer, "I haven't had any real challenges since Kira, or rather Light Yagami, was killed during our confrontation. I wonder if this is how L felt when no cases piqued his interest."

As he continued scrolling through lists of cases, he noticed he had an incoming e-mail from the current owner of Wammy House, Roger Ruvie.

"I wonder what he could want," He said as he clicked to open the e-mail.

_Near, something very urgent has come up, and it desperately needs your attention._

_What could be so important?_ Near thought as he read the sentence, _Most likely just another boring case to look at._

He continued reading.

_It seems as though there is someone who really wants to get your attention._

_My attention?_ Near's interest slightly raised.

_They sent me a message for you in the form of a picture…it's written on the back of a murdered young girl."_

_Now that,_ Near thought to himself, _Is interesting._

_I know it may sound odd, but it might be time to contact…him._

Near stopped twirling his hair at this sentenced and his eyes became sharp.

_It seems like something he should be told about. I believe you should ask him to help…Something tells me you're going to need his help with this. I'll leave the photo attached and the decision to contact him to you Near._

_Good luck,_

_Roger._

"Rather or not I'll ask him won't be the problem," Near said to himself as he opened the attachment containing the photo, "It would be convincing him to work with me."

The photo finished downloading and showed up spread across all the computer screens.

Near saw what Roger meant by someone wanting his attention. And now, they certainly had it.

On the girls back, the message her killer had carved in her back was a challenge that read:

_Catch me if you can 'L'_

_Or do you prefer Near?_

_Good luck._

Near started to twirl his hair again.

As he looked at the picture, he started thinking about the last message he was sent from L who had sent it to Roger to give to him, shortly before his death at the hands of Light all those years ago.

_L,_ he began to think to himself, _Did you know something like this would happen? Is that why you told me how to contact a dead man? You always were prepared…for most things anyway._

He turned to face his computer and began pushing a few keys.

"Maybe," He began to speak aloud, "this case will be interesting enough to raise the dead…"

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Notes

Well now, things are getting quite interesting wouldn't you say? Who is this mysterious killer who wanted Near to play their game so badly? How do they know about him in the first place? What exactly does Near think L was preparing him for? These questions and more will be answered in chapters to come so stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 5

_**Waking the Dead**_

"What a tiresome day," Adam said as he tossed his jacket on to a nearby couch, "The only good thing about it is that it's over."

He walked over to his laptop, flipped the screen up and turned it on. He wouldn't even have it if it wasn't for the fact that he uses it for work so much.

"Might as well make something to eat while it's loading, before I delete a bunch of 'Hey want to hit the bar buddy?' and 'Hey let's get a group to go do something this weekend' e-mails" He said as he opened the fridge, "They should know by now I'm not interested."

He glanced around his fridge looking for something to eat. There was some milk, a jar of strawberry jam, a pack of ham, a pack of cheese, and some other small, unsorted snacks and drinks in it. He looked on the counter and saw a few slices of bread left in their bag.

"No peanut butter, so…ham sandwich and milk it is. Guess I should go shopping tomorrow," He said to himself and began putting his sandwich together.

He walked back to his desk and sat down in front of his computer, ready to delete all the, what he considered junk mail, from his inbox. He scrolled through his inbox, marking and deleting e-mails as he went, until he came across one that he looked at sharply. Alex didn't recognize the sender, but that's not what caught his attention. What caught it was what was typed in the subject space.

_Hello A._

That's all that was all that the subject said. No more, no less. But that was all that it needed to say to confound him.

A, the title he had once held all those years ago when he was set to be the replacement of L, revered as the world's greatest detective.

"What the hell is this?" he said looking at the message.

He wanted to delete the message, but he couldn't.

Who sent this message, how do they know who he is, how did they find him?

All these questions were racing around his head, and he decided to open the message.

_Hello A. You may not remember me from Wammy's as it was quite a long time ago, I am Near. Though you may call me N. I am the successor of L and currently hold his title now that he and the fake L, Light Yagami, better known as Kira, have died._

"Ls' successor," He said aloud, "Near huh? Always thought that kid had something special, but how does he know about me?"

_You are probably wondering how I know about you. After all, L told you that he was the only one who knew you had lived. Before he died, he sent Roger a message, the message naming me his successor when he dies. However…that isn't all he sent Roger for me._

"Damn it L," he said aloud as he continued reading Nears' message, "What the hell are you about to get me into?"

_He also sent me the means of contacting you, saying that there may be a case one day that may require your help to solve. I thought it odd, seeing as how it was said that you had died when you committed, or rather attempted, suicide, but I didn't have time to think on it with the Kira investigation at hand at the time. A case has come up, and Roger suggested that it may be time to contact you. I've sent you a picture sent to me by a killer who wanted my attention. If you truly are alive, use the instructions on this message to contact me with your thoughts on the case. The police report and a picture of the same victim are also attached._

He read the instructions to follow if he wanted to contact Near.

"A case? Damn it, I already told L I have no intention of going back to that world of his. L you bastard, what were you thinking."

He went to close the laptop, not wanting to involve himself with Near or the case he was sent, but he couldn't. Just like how he couldn't bring himself to delete the message from Near.

"Fuck."

He opened the attachment and looked at the pictures.

The first photo showed a young girl, blonde hair, face down on a wooden table, throat slit, and the challenge to Near carved into her back. Alex didn't notice anything aside from the message that would be considered particularly interesting, so he went to look at the other photo.

This one caught his attention rather quickly. The body was in a completely different condition and area, almost like an apartment. In this photo, the girls head was bashed in by something and her eyes were crushed and some glasses were placed near the victim as well as having a new shirt put on, possibly to hide his message from the cops who would find her until after her autopsy, not that they would know what it meant anyway. Or they could have added more cuts and bruises to her back to keep this between them and Near without outside interference.

A was covering all possibilities.

"If it's really the same girl," he said as went to read the police report, "then a lot of what I'm seeing in the second photo would have to have been done after the girl had been killed and the original photo had been taken. And just as I thought, the report only states that her back was considerably scarred. There is no mention of a message carved in."

Suddenly a wave of shock came over his face.

"Wait a second this looks like-"he went to grab an old file buried under a pile of junk across the room.

As he scanned through the file he saw it. The photo of a girl named Quarter Queen killed by Beyond during his challenge to L in Los Angeles.

The photos of the two victims were damn near a perfect match, A thought to himself.

He went back over to his computer and re-read the instructions Near had given him to contact him and followed them.

After a while, he had found himself on a screen with a large cloister black L on the screen.

"Hello A," said a synthetic voice through the computer, "I'm glad that you really were alive to contact me. I am Near."

"Always figured you had talent kid, but I didn't think you'd have the title of L so soon," A said, not bothering with a synthesized voice, "About the case, the police report says that the apartment building she was found in is likely the place she died at. But because of the obvious post-mortem touch up between the two, I'm guessing the first photo was just for you and not the cops correct?"

"That is correct," Near replied, "It seems the killer first wanted my attention before setting the body up the way they did at the apartment."

"Figured as much," he said in response, "You're dealing with a copycat killer."

"Oh? And what makes you so sure of that?" Near asked him.

"Because L, the real L, asked me to work on the case this killing is modeled after. The BB murder case."

There was a short pause on Nears' end before responding.

"Are you sure about this?" Near asked

"I'm looking at the case file L left here as we speak," he said in response again, "And also, if it's someone who knows you're not the real L, but that you are actually N, then it must be someone from Wammy house…and I think I have an idea who. Would it be possible for us to meet Near?"

"Of course, I already made preparations for it," Near responded, "A car will be by your apartment within the hour, the person inside has a plane ticket for you, I advise you hurry and pack. Oh and don't forgot that file you mentioned."

"Yeah yeah kid I got it," he said growing impatient with Nears attitude.

"And A?"

"What?" he replied, growing tired of the conversation.

"I look forward with working with the original successor on this, I can't wait to see your talent again. It's been six years since you left after all," Near said.

And with that, Alex turned off the computer and began packing for his trip, taking one last look at the two photos of the victims.

_6 years…_ He thought to himself.

"That brat," Alex began to speak aloud, "Is in for a long case if I'm right about this…"

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Authors' notes

Sorry about how long this chapter took guys, I kind of got distracted between finishing up for the new semester of college and job hunting and catching up on m reading, etc…but here it is, the new chapter is out and A seems more interested in this case than someone who wants nothing to do with Nears world should, so why is he so interested? You're just have to wait and find out ;) Remember to leave reviews, praise and Constructive criticism are welcomed and loved!


	6. Chapter 6

_**Reasons**_

A couldn't wait to get off the plane he was on and stretch his legs. The flight to Japan had been longer than he cared for, and he wasn't a fan of sitting around for long periods of time.

The flight did however give him time to think about the case he had been presented with. He reviewed everything over in his head, the picture sent to near, and the picture the police took after finding the body after it had been moved and made to look like the murder of Quarter Queen by beyond all those years ago.

The thing that had instantly struck him as odd wasn't how perfectly the body had been made to look like Queen, as someone could have simply hacked into police records to find information on it, and the killings themselves were more or less public knowledge now, so if someone wanted to imitate Beyond it would be fairly simple as all you would need would be someone with a similar appearance and then do some post-mortem touch up on the body.

The thing that struck him as odd, the thing that had led him to believe he knew who may be behind the murder, was that the person knew Near. And not only that, they knew that L was dead and N is acting as him.

L's involvement in the case was not public knowledge, the only people who knew his part in the BB murder case was A himself who L asked to help solve the case, the FBI agent L asked to help him, and Beyond himself.

_But Beyond is dead, _Alex thought to himself staring intently straight in front of him, _And if he's dead then he couldn't have done the killing, so if not for the fact that they challenged Near it would have looked like a simple copycat killing, but since they know about L, Near, and the fact that Near is the new L, the only person who could have known about the killings, L, BB, and how to contact Roger to reach Near would be…_

"A?" A voice next to him called.

"Huh?" Alex snapped out of his chain of thoughts and looked over at the person who said his name, "sorry Roger, just thinking about the case."

"I expected as much," Roger said looking at the young man "it does seem to be a rather perplexing one, however we are about to land, so you had best buckle up."

"Oh, right." He replied.

The two men proceeded to put their seatbelts back on and waited patiently for the plane to land, and then grabbed their bags from the overhead compartment and made their way off the plane and into the airport.

"We're finally here," A said as he stretched his limbs out in the airport, "it's about time, I hate sitting around that long."

"It seems you haven't changed a bit, A," Roger said from behind, "you never were much of a sit around and think about everything type of child. You always had to be up and moving, and playing your thoughts out when you were examining the case files you were given."

_It's true,_ Alex thought to himself as he and Roger were walking out of the airport, _As much as I hate it, I haven't changed much at all since I left Wammy House. Even though I tried to avoid that world I still choose to be a Police Detective. So much for having nothing to do with that world._

"This way," Roger called towards him, "The car picking us up is over here."

"Right," Alex replied.

Alex followed Roger to a black limo that was waiting for them, and the two proceeded to enter and sit in the back.

"Now that we're finally alone A," Roger began speaking almost immediately upon the two taking their seats, "I imagine you may have a question or two you would like answered?" He asked leaning forward and put his hands together in front of his face.

"For starters," A began, "Why did L send you and Near a way to contact me before he died, and also why did you two decide now to send for me?" he looked at Roger with his arms crossed, leaning back into the seat and waiting for an answer he already knew.

"Well as for why he sent us a way to contact you after having us believe you died all those years ago, we were just as perplexed as you are, but there was little time to dwell on the matter as the Kira case L had died on was still on going, and his two successors at the time, Near and Mello, had to be informed of L's decision on who would succeed him. At the time I decided to withhold L's information about you so Near could put all his focus and efforts into solving the Kira case, as I felt knowing such a thing would distract Near from the case as he may become curious and decide to try and find you which we couldn't afford to do at the time."

"And for why you contacted me?" he continued to look at Roger, with a look that almost demanded an answer.

Roger closed his eyes and was silent for a moment.

"The reason," Roger finally spoke up, "was because I asked him to. And it seems that Near, myself, and I'm assuming you, have all come to the same conclusion as to who the suspect and the young girls death may have been, but before contacting you Near made an assumption about the case before contacting you to see if you were capable of coming to the same conclusion as he did."

_That little brat was testing me,_ A was agitated by this fact, but kept it to himself as he would no doubt have done the same thing.

"I agreed with him of course," Roger continued, "as I was unsure if you were as good as you were back when you were at the house, and it of course seems that your skills haven't rusted a bit while you were out living a normal life."

There was a pause.

"It's a shame that the same cannot be said of B," Roger said as he gazed at A, "I suppose losing someone's best friend would drive someone like him over the edge, but at least he was never connected to the house or L, so neither ones reputation was damaged by him thankfully."

At this A jumped forward and grabbed Roger by the collar of his shirt.

"You shut the hell up about him!" A shouted towards him, "You don't know anything about him, you have no right to put the blame on me or him for what happened, or did you forget that it was your lies that lead to my suicide attempt in the first place!"

His face had turned a deep shade of red as a screamed at Roger, as Roger gave a look of shock at his comment.

"What are you-" He began to ask before A cut him off.

"L told me all about yours and Watari's idea," A said, his voice lowering but not losing any presence of the anger he had, "he told me about how all the work you two were giving me was too much, he told me about how he told the both of you to give me a break for fear of making me feel too much pressure, but the two of chose to ignore him, chose to ignore the person you were trying to turn all of us into, the man you wanted us to replace, you decided he was wrong and that I needed more work instead of less, everything that's happened is your fault!"

At this he finally released his hold on Roger and leaned back into his seat and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down before he tried throwing roger out the window.

Roger just stared, still shocked from what had just transpired, he tried to find the words to argue with A but he couldn't find them, he couldn't find the words to prove him wrong because he knew that he was right.

"I'm sorry," Roger said softly, "you're right, the blame belongs to both myself and Watari, we were wrong to do that to you, we had no right to disagree with L after everything we told all of you about him."

"Agreed," A synthetic voice came from a speaker in the limousine, "such a thing should not have been done."

"Near!" Roger said, slightly startled by the sudden sound of Near's voice.

"I was wondering when you'd speak up," A said calmly as he opened his eyes again, "the camera is too noticeable, limo companies tend to make sure everything is working properly before sending one of their cars out, the fact that the light above us won't turn on means that it either burned out on the way to get us or was purposely replaced with a nonfunctional bulb so you could put the camera and wiretap there with no interference, and since we just passed the limo company this car is running for ten minutes after leaving the airport it was obvious which answer was right."

"Very good A, not many would have seen through that trick, you really haven't dulled a bit while you were away," Near responded, "you will be at the building that will be used as our headquarters for this case shortly, I look forward to meeting you."

"Yeah, whatever," he replied nonchalantly, "can't wait."

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Notes

Well here it is, after a month of waiting chapter 6 is finally out! *cheers* Not a whole lot in plot development I know, but at least we got to see a little bit more of A's personality and why he tried to off himself, as well as a little bit of detective work so hopefully it wasn't TOO much of a snooze fest. Remember to leave reviews letting me know what you like and don't like about the story so far!


	7. Chapter 7

**_Meeting of Successors_**

The rest of the limo ride to Near's headquarters was spent in complete silence. Roger was too afraid to say anything to A that may result in another outburst from the young man and chose instead to sit in silence, contemplating what Near's reaction would be after hearing what had happened to A and how he and Watari had disagreed with L even after everything that hold told the children about him.

Luckily for him, the ride was over after only a few minutes, however long they may have seemed.

"We've arrived" Roger said, a slight shake still in his voice.

"Right" was A's simple reply as he stepped out of the car.

When he stepped out, A looked at the building before him_, it seems as though Near is using an entire hotel as his headquarters for this mission_, A thought to himself, _I would say It's a bit of an over kill when the criminal is one person, but considering who it is…_

As the two headed towards the hotel, Roger looked towards A and became lost in his own thoughts as well, _He really hasn't changed. That calm and logical look, hiding such an aggressive and brash personality, an intelligence that rivaled and possibly even surpassed L's, but never letting it all show, I can see why the three of them were all such close friends._

"Roger," Near's synthetic voice came from the speaker in front of the door, "Do you plan to stay out there all night while a killer is running loose?"

"Oh, right," he replied, snapping back from his thoughts, "this way A," he ushered as he held the door open.

The two stepped inside the building but before A got a chance to look around the lobby he was ushered to the elevator by Roger, and once they were in he pushed the button for the penthouse and up the elevator went. When it had finally finished its ascension and the doors opened, A was lead to one of the many rooms on the floor and was gestured by roger to step inside after opening the door.

Inside the room there was an abundance of screens lining the walls and sitting in the middle of the room was a young boy who didn't look as though he could have been out of his teens, with snow white hair and a long white dress shirt that seemed almost too big for him.

The boy raised his head from the house of cards he was putting together and stood to meet A who was approaching him.

"It's been a long time A," the white haired boy spoke as he held out his hand, "I am N, though you can call me Near."

"I remember you," A replied as he stepped forward stretching out his hand as well, "you were always so quiet and working on your puzzles all the time, you reminded me a lot of L whenever I saw you, it's no surprise you were able to succeed him."

As the two successors shook hands another look of surprise had come of Roger as he had never seen Near so much as glance at most people he meets, let alone go to shake anyone's hand before, no matter who they were.

"Roger," Near called to the man snapping him out of his trance, "You're probably wondering why I'm shaking his hand when I haven't been known to do that. The answer is simple; I respect A more than any other I have met."

As Near said this, Roger couldn't do anything but gawk at this bizarre thing that had just come from Near as he had never heard him give praise like this to anyone before.

"Oh, right," A spoke up, "I guess instead of just calling me A you can call me Able instead, it's what everyone used to call me back at Wammy's."

"Yes, I remember," Near replied back, looking A in his eyes, "Everyone called you Able because they figured you would be able to succeed L being his first successor and some even believed you would be able to surpass him. I was one of them."

At this, a slight look of surprise came over his face, but was soon replaced with a small smirk.

"I doubt anyone thought that after what I did that night," he remarked, "No one would think that of someone after they tried to off themself for the very reason they were respected."

"I did," Near responded to Able's statement, causing another surprised look to show on his face, "I never thought you to be dead, as no proof was ever given aside from Roger's announcement after hearing it from L, and even I wasn't about to accept the fact that someone like you died without any physical evidence being provided as proof, even if the person who said it was L."

Before Able could respond Near spoke up again.

"Also," he started, "there was something strange that B kept saying after the announcement, he kept saying 'the numbers weren't gone, there was still so many numbers, there's no way he's dead, it's impossible' no body understood what he was talking about, everyone just assumed he was in denial about losing you. Everyone but me that is, there's no way of knowing if it's true, but during the kira case, one of the criminals involved was able to see people's names and lifespans, he said he received the ability from a shinigami in exchange for halve his lifespan. I don't know if B had the same eyes, but it is a possibility, then when Roger had told me about the information L had given him for me about you, I was positive that B had seen your lifespan and that you were still alive."

A look of utter confusion came across his face as Near spoke.

"Shinigami? Seeing people's names lifespans? What kind of supernatural Bull is that?" He asked, not believing the worlds that were coming from Nears mouth.

"I admit, it is rather unbelievable unless you had witnessed and heard everything yourself, but the point is that I believed you to be alive, and I was right. But enough of the past, we need to put our efforts towards catching this copycat killer. And it seems that on your way here they did a number of other killings, made to look like the ones from the kira case I just mentioned. A number of prisoners were found dead from heart attacks, however unlike Kira who could kill someone with a natural heart attack, the autopsy had shown that all of this people were killed by poison."

"Well," Able replied, "We won't be able to completely move on from the past if we want to catch this killer. As I'm sure you've guessed."

Near was silent, simply listening.

"The only person who could perfectly copy B's killing without stealing a police report, know how to contact roger, who you are, and that L was dead would have to be someone…"

"From Wammy's," Near finished.

"Right," Able continued, "but not just anyone, the only person who knew B and L better than anyone else at Wammy's, the third successor of the first generation alongside B and myself, our closest friend."

There was a short pause from A as he closed his eyes, as if steadying himself before looking back to Near.

"The person doing these killings…is her. It's C."

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A/N

Dun-dun-dun! The killer is reveled! How will Near react to hearing that the person challenging him is none other than another of the first generation successors, C? Reviews are loved and appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Meanings**_

_A, alternative, able, alone. B, Backup, beyond, beaten. C, Copy, capable, crazy._

"Oh so many meanings to a single letter," Said a feminine voice, "Which one fits best though?"

"A was his alternative, able to compare to him, alone in being pushed harder than any to succeed. B was his backup, who could go beyond him but was beaten because of that woman. C, His copy, just as capable as the others to surpass him, crazy enough to challenge his new successor the same way that B challenged him."

They let out a sigh.

"Maybe crazy and copy suit me the best, after all I'm just copying the killings that puzzled him so much, but then again, what better way is there to test someone's successor than to put them through the same challenges?"

Another sigh escaped them.

"Being third in line doesn't make it easy to come up with something new, and even if I did there isn't any way to know how he'd deal with it compared to Near, so there's no good way to test him without copying a case that stumped L."

They pouted as they got up from the table, and walked over to look at a painting of three young children hanging on the wall.

"Linda was such a brilliant artist, despite how young she was, I wonder how she's doing?" they spoke to themselves as they examined the painting.

There were two boys, one wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans, and another next to him wearing almost the same only his shirt was long sleeved. And there in the middle of the two boys was a young girl, her hair just a dark as both of the boys, but styled closer to the boy with the long sleeves.

"Those were the days," A smile passed on her lips, "the days before everything changed and A left us for good. You were so upset I almost thought you would follow in his footsteps to be with him, but instead you decided to avenge him."

The smile on the girl's lips faded to a frown and she gazed at the two boys with a sorrowful look.

"Our best friend, the only person we could relate to aside from each other in that house, and he was gone, he vanished before our very eyes," the smile began to reform on her face, "at least that's what everyone thought, but they didn't know about your gift B, that you could see everything about a person through those spectacular eyes of yours, that you could see that he was alive."

The smile that had finally reformed on her face quickly faded once again to show a face of anger at the smiling boy in the t-shirt.

"So then why did he leave? Why did he leave us in that house all alone? Why didn't he at least tell us, his best friends that he was leaving? That's the real reason why you challenged him wasn't it B? It wasn't just to show L who was better, but you wanted him to come as well. You wanted to catch his attention, so he would come to stop you and you could finally ask him all those questions. Well don't worry B, I'll be asking him soon enough."

A wicked grin spread across her face from ear to ear as she spoke to the painting.

"I'll drag him out of hiding if I have to, and then force him to tell me why he abandoned us in that house to deal with everything on our own, after all the next murder will be a challenge to him, and he most definitely will get it, because if he truly is alive, then Near will no doubt have called on him already to help catch me, and if he's done that then A should already have figured out just who it is that's doing all of this."

The girl began to cackle like a maniac as she thought of the scenario she was about to create, one that he wouldn't be able to ignore if he wanted to. She was going to get answers from him one way or another. That was something she was sure of.

As she left to find a suitable candidate to help in delivering another of her spectacular challenges, she spoke aloud to herself one last time.

"Just a little longer B, and you'll have all the answers you've been seeking for so long."

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A/N

I know I know, this chapter was very short and not much plot development, but it was written mainly to get a little insight into our suspect C, and why she has decided to challenge Near and soon A. The next chapter will be longer I promise, in the meantime reviews are appreciated, and feel free to share this story with your friends if you think they'll enjoy it.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Death and a bowtie pt.1_**

"Capable? But that's Impossible!" Roger stammered, shocked at the what Able had just said, "Capable vanished!"

"Soon after Beyond did correct? L told me about it," Able said, looking sternly at the older man, "Think about it, Beyond leaves Wammy's after hearing that I was dead, and Capable, the final member of our little trio, suddenly vanishes a day or two later. Did you not once consider the idea that maybe she had went after him?"

"W-well Watari and I just thought that-"

"Beyond was depressed and ran away from Wammy's to escape from the memories of what happened, and Capable went to find him after he didn't come back right?" Near spoke up from the house of cards he had went back to building, "Not that something like that would necessarily be wrong, as that would be a fairly typical response when someone close to another is said to be dead. However," he continued, "even though that may have been how it started off, but since neither of you thought to tell L until long after they were gone, their feelings about the situation, combined with the fact that she may also have known about Beyond's 'ability' may very well have set them off to seek Able out and find out why he and L lied about his death and why he left them."

"You figured all that out in just a few minutes?" Able questioned, "Impressive, that brain of yours sure can run when it wants to."

"I haven't 'figured anything out' per say,' Near replied, "It is nothing more than a possibility I came up with that could fit with the situation based on all the information that has been said."

A smirk came a cross Able's face.

"Still impressed," he said to the snowy haired boy, "I guess if we really want to know everything then we need to catch Capable and ask her for the details in person."

He turned to leave the room.

"Where do you think you are going?" Roger called after him.

"Well there's no way to find her with the information we have, and I haven't eaten since before boarding the plane, so I'm pretty hungry. Figured I'd go find diner or something and grab a bite to eat."

"How can you act so carefree about all of this?" Roger yelled after him.

Able continued to the door, as though he hadn't heard Roger at all.

"How can he just leave like this with Capable out there?" he mumbled to himself.

"Do you honestly think he isn't doing anything Roger?" Near asked, standing from the now completed house of cards.

"What do you mean?" Roger asked him looking perplexed.

"Right now he is sifting through every bit of information shown in the photos, that has been said, and even in his own memories to try and figure out where she is hiding. My theory is he is acting that way to try to act like this will be over with quickly and without much bloodshed. But it may be more so for his sake then ours."

"Why would he do such a thing Near?" Roger asked curiously.

"Because it's what he wants. He wants this case to be over with quickly and meet her. He possibly wants to explain things to her, and try to save her. Just think how he acted during certain cases he was presented with back at Wammy's. Although we weren't particularly close, he would still talk to me about some of the cases he was working on, Probably to prepare me for when I may have to succeed L or, at the time, himself. The cases that involved hostage situations, deaths that he believed could have been prevented, criminal or not, he always tried to find a way to save everyone, even when you and Watari tried to convince him that not everyone could be saved and that some people had to die so others could live."

"Well of course, if a criminal must die so that hundreds of innocents may live he should do so!" Roger exclaimed to the young man.

"L didn't believe so. At least according to A." Near said, his tone deepening as he turned to Roger, his stare turning into what roger could only call a menacing glare, "and I believe him. I believe it is possible to save everyone in a situation no matter how dire, and do you want to know why Able wanted to save even the criminals? A reason that even L believed to be better than simply killing off a criminal to save others?"

"Y-yes," roger stammered, "Why is it?"

"Because, he believes that if the criminal dies, then no justice can be handed out to them for their crimes. If a criminal is to die, then it should be because the justice system decided it, not an individual person. That is the reason he gave me, you and Watari, and even L himself. And to be honest I agree with him. Even in the case of Light Yagami, despite all he had done I did not wish him dead the way it happened. I also do not believe that any of the officers did. In a sense, Light Yagami went unpunished for the crimes he committed; he took the easy way out as it were."

"But for killing all those people, isn't his death proper retribution?" Roger asked, perplexed by the fact that Near would believe Light should have lived despite all he had done.

"Killing someone in retribution for a crime? Roger, you wouldn't be trying to become the next Kira would you? Because killing someone for that reason, believing they would be better off dead because of their crimes, doesn't that sound an awful lot like what drove Light to do what he did?" Near replied, as his eyes looked sharply at Roger.

"T-that is-"

He gave up. He knew there was no way he would win this argument against Near.

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As Able walked down the street, he finally came upon what he had been searching for, a diner. He was positively starving by this point and headed inside.

"Welcome!" A young blond hostess welcomed him as he walked in, "Just you? Well right this way."

She ushered him to an empty booth across from a couple of school kids.

_The three girls must be in high school, _he noticed some bags underneath their booth, _Just got done shopping it seems. _His gaze shifted to a young boy in glasses sitting in the booth with them, _he doesn't look like any of them, step brother maybe or a visiting relative? Doesn't look any older than an elementary school student, _His attention shifted towards his outfit, _A red bowtie? Why would he wear something like that, it's so gaudy. To each their own I guess._

He ordered the biggest cheese burger the place had along with their tallest shake, and quickly devoured the burger, gulped the shake, and asked for the check.

While he was waiting, someone suddenly shouted from a both back in the corner.

"Quick my epipen, where is it?" A man shouted at the other two with him.

"Here it is in your bag!" a woman at the booth handed it to him.

The panicked man quickly injected his thigh with the object.

"That was a close one," He sighed as he took it back out.

"Don't frighten us like that again dude, ask before you order something next time would ya?" Another man wearing a leather jacket said to him.

"Sorry, having an allergy to strawberries is pretty embar-"

The man's eyes suddenly widened and he quickly clutched at his throat as though he couldn't breathe before collapsing onto the floor.

"Hey what's wrong?" One of the girls at the other booth asked.

"Quick Ran call an ambulance!" the young boy with them shouted as he moved to get out of the booth.

"John what's wrong, get up." The woman at the corner booth said as she reached for the collapsed man.

"Stop," Able called out, "don't touch him!"

He ran over to the man and put two fingers to the man's throat. He shook his head.

"This man…Is dead."

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A/N

Well what do we have here? Elementary student? Glasses? Red bow tie? Who could be getting involved in this death? Tune in next chapter to find out :D –gets poked with stick- Hey hey! It's not like it's not completely obvious! Jeez.

As always, reviews are loved and appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10

**_Death and a bowtie pt.2_**

"Wh-what do you mean he's dead?" The man in the leather jacket asked looking at Able as though he had three heads.

Able looked up from examining the corpse that just a moment before had been a man enjoying dinner at the restaurant.

"It means exactly what it sounds like," he answered the man staring at him, "he is dead."

"But how can that be," the woman who had been sitting at the booth asked, "he took his epipen as soon as he found out that the pie had strawberries in it so he wouldn't have a reaction."

Able, who had returned to his table and grabbed a clean napkin while the woman had been talking came back over and grabbed the epipen with it holding it between his thumb and forefinger and held it near his nose and took a small sniff of it. He simply stayed in his squatted position for a moment before looking over at the group at the other booth, remembering the boy telling one of them to call an ambulance.

"Miss?" he asked the young girl who was holding the phone, "You may want to call the police as well, this wasn't an accident."

"Hey now what do you mean this wasn't an accident?" the girl in the middle asked in an annoying brash sort of way.

"There's something on the epipen isn't there?" The third girl looked up from under her fedora.

"A type of poison right?" The young boy chimed in as well.

"That's right," he answered both of them, impressed that the two of them picked up on that from the quick sniff he did of it, "And the two of you are suspects," he said as he pointed at the two who had been sitting with the man at the booth.

"Hey what kind of joke is this you brat?" The man in leather asked, looking visibly upset by the accusation.

"Indeed," the woman commented, "It was just an unfortunate accident from him accidently eating a slice of pie without realizing the sauce was from strawberries wasn't it?"

"No, there is poison on the epipen, this man was murdered, and since the two of you were with him when he injected it, and you yourself handed it to him," he said as he pointed at the woman, "that would make you the prime suspect. Though without proof I won't treat you as such, and make both of you equal suspects."

"Um excuse me sir," the girl who had made the phone call walked up, "the police are on their way now."

"Thanks," he said, giving her a curt nod as he went to put the epipen back in the victims hand so as to make everything like it was for when the police arrived.

"Excuse me for asking," the brash girl from earlier came up from behind the other, "Just who are you exactly?"

"Me? My name is," He stopped to think for a moment. _Able doesn't seem like a good name in public, and just giving them a letter would be ridiculous. I can't give them my real name though just in case. Guess I have no choice. "_My name is Ryuzaki, I'm a detective."

He didn't like the fact of using the name L and B used, but decided it as the best name to give in the situation.

"A detective huh?" the brash girl asked, looking suspicious.

"Really," the girl in the fedora piped up, "we have something in common then, I'm a detective as well. My name is Sera."

The girl was quite tomboyish, with dark hair and a hoody and jeans, making it even harder to tell she was a girl. Luckily A wasn't the average person when it came to figuring people out.

"Well then," Able looked at her and smirked, "with two detectives this case should be simple then won't it?"

"Three actually," Sera told him, "this little guy is a detective to," she picked up the young boy to show him off.

"Hey Sera, put me down," he complained.

She giggled a little and put the boy back down and he adjusted his glasses before looking back up at Able.

"My name is Conan Edogawa," he told him with a childish smile, "A detective."

Able eyed the young boy. _Something seems off about this kid, _he thought to himself, _something tells me I should look into him later._ He quickly looked to Conan and smiled.

"Glad to have you on bored Conan, the more detectives we have the faster when can bust this case wide open," he looked over at the other girls, "And what about you two?"

"My name is Sonoko," the brash one answered.

"And my name is Ran, nice to meet you," Said the other.

"Like-wise," he said with a smile.

It was about half an hour before the police arrived at the diner, which was spent by Sera, Conan, and Able talking about past cases they worked on. When they had finally arrived Four officers walked in.

One, whom Able presumed was in charge, was a hefty man in an orange trench coat and matching hat, one was a taller, younger looking officer with short dark brown hair, another man slightly shorter than the presumed chief but just as hefty looking, and a female officer with short black hair.

"I am Inspector Megure," the hefty man in orange spoke up, "These are officers Takagi, Sato, and Chiba."

He looked over at the body of the victim laying on the floor.

"Has anyone disturbed the body before we arrived?" The inspector asked.

"I examined the epipen earlier," Able spoke up, "after looking at it a noticed that it had an odd smell, which is why I had you called in, I believe the victim may have been poisoned. After examining it I placed it back exactly how it was in the victims hand before looking it over, and used a fresh napkin to avoid getting finger prints on it."

"I see," the inspector looked him over before noticing the others behind him, "Ran and Conan? What are you two doing here?"

"We were out late shopping with Sonoko and Sera, and we lost track of time and since we were pretty hungry we stopped in here to eat, and that's when we heard the commotion coming from their table. This man," she gestured towards Able "checked his pulse and presumed him dead before checking the epipen and having us call you."

"Hmm," he simply nodded his head, "Takagi and Sato, you two take statements from the two who were sitting with the victim, and Chiba send the epipen to forensics and have them run a test on it to see if anything unusual shows up."

"Yes sir," The three said in unison and went about their orders.

While the officers were going about their business, Able decided to call Near and let him know what was going on. He pulled out a phone Roger gave him on the flight over so that he could contact himself and Near without it being traced.

"Yes Able?" A voice came through before the first ring was even finished.

"I'm going to be a bit late getting back, there was an…incident…at the diner I'm at."

"Incident?" Near questioned.

"Yeah. Some guy just killed over after taking an epipen, something about having an allergy to strawberries."

"Did he get it himself?" Near asked.

"No, the girl across from him handed it to him after he started to panic. After he died I examined the epipen, I think it may have been poisoned."

"I see. Hurry up and get back then."

The phone began beeping, so Able just closed it and put it back in his pocket.

"Who was that?" Sera asked, walking up behind him.

"Roommate," he answered quickly, "didn't want him asking a bunch of questions when I get in late."

"I see," she said smiling, "I thought it might have been a girlfriend or something."

"Nah, don't have one," he said shrugging, "Never met anyone interesting enough to date."

"Well after this case is over what do you say we-"

She was interrupted by officer Megure walking over to talk to Able.

"Excuse me, um" he paused for a name.

"Ryuzaki" he told him.

"Right, could I speak with you for a moment over with the other officers?"

"Of course," he looked over at Sera, "what about her?"

"Well she has helped on a few cases before so I suppose it couldn't hurt."

The three walked back to where the other officers were waiting.

"Inspector Megure," Chiba spoke up, "Forensics just called, there apparently was a substance coated on the needle of the epipen that is poisonous, they believe it is a type of biocide, but they'll have to run a few more tests to figure out the exact kind."

"And Officer Takagi and I have just finished taking statements from both suspects," the female inspector known as Sato told him.

"Go ahead then," he nodded towards Takagi.

"Right, it seems the man's name is James Hickory, and the woman's is Brooke Chambers, who was engaged to the victim. The man was a close friend of the victim since High school, and was recently fired from his sales job. The woman owns her own business as a personal psychologist."

_A psychologist huh? _Able thought to himself, _If that's the case then…_

"You thinking what I'm thinking about her?" Sera whispered in his ear.

"Yeah." He answered

"Ne Ne, don't leave me out you two," they heard Conan say from under them.

Megure noticed the trio talking to each other.

"Is something the matter?" he asked them.

"What's that red spot on officer Takagi's neck?" Conan asked innocently.

"What this?" Takagi pointed to the spot, "That's been there all day, I probably rubbed it in my sleep."

"I sure hope that's it," Able said, "I heard there is some new type of virus going around, that starts off as a neck rash."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," Sera chimed in, "after the spot on the neck shows the other symptoms can show up anytime between a day or even a wekk after the rash shows up. The other signs of infection are sweating, and dizziness at first, followed by your knees suddenly getting weak and"

_Thuwmp!_

The group all looked over to see officer Takagi planted on the floor.

"What the?" Officer Sato exclaimed.

"The virus?" Chiba asked.

"Nope," Able answered them both.

"It was a psychological trick," Sera told them, "If something is said in such a believable way with no way to prove it wrong, then you can easily get someone to believe they're sick when actually they're perfectly healthy."

"A-le-le?" Conan chimed in as childishly as he could, "Wouldn't that be a rather simple trick for," he looked over at Brooke, "A psychologist."

"Wh-what are you trying to imply?" she shouted, with a panicked expression.

"When I came in earlier, the two of you had just had your desserts brought out, and yours was the only one with any sauce on it," Able said with his finger pointed towards her.

"It probably went something like this," Sera began to explain, "Since you're his fiancé you could easily access his epipen and tamper with it, which the police reports confirmed had been poisoned."

"Right," Able continued, "So after ordering the pies, you probably had James distract him with conversation about what it's like to have an allergy to something while you swapped pies, making it look like he had just eaten the one with strawberry sauce. Then, being a psychologist, you probably talked to James describing the symptoms when John looked down and noticed the bite taken from the strawberry pie."

"In other words," Sera chimed back in, "he was mentally tricked into thinking he was sick, causing him to think he needed his epipen which you had coated with poison. Am I wrong?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

"Th-that's-" She started

"Give up Brooke," James spoke from behind her

"But James," She looked at him, shocked.

"Enough, they've caught us red handed."

"Why would you do something like this?" Officer Sato asked.

There was silence for a moment, before Brooke finally spoke up.

"Because of the will I found. John had a small fortune he inherited from his parents. The will had left all of it to me if he died. And my business was starting to fail and James had lost his job so…So James and I, we thought of this plan to kill him and take the money for ourselves and run away together."

"You Idiot," Inspector Megure shouted at her, "You would kill someone who cared so much about you just for money? He left it to you because he loved you enough to want to make sure you were taken care of when he wasn't around anymore! A kindness wasted it would seem," the inspector finished, giving them both a hard glare.

"I'm…I'm so sorry," Her face was now covered in tears.

The two were arrested for the murder and were escorted away by officers Takagi, Sato, and Chiba.

"Thank you for your help," Officer Megure tipped his hat towards Able and Sera.

"Anytime," the two told him.

Able looked around after the officers had all left.

"Well that was more than I was expecting when I came to eat," he sighed softly.

"Tell me about it," Sera came behind him and patted him lightly on the back.

"It's already gotten so late," Ran said looking at her watch, "We'd better hurry and get home soon Conan," she said looking down at the young boy.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up with you," Sera waved to them.

"Are you sure Sera?" Sonoko asked her.

"Yeah, there's something I need to take care of first," She answered.

Sonoko noticed Seras' hand on Able and giggled quietly before pushing Ran and Conan out of the diner.

"Ok we get it, just don't take too long," She said, giving Sera a knowing wink.

"So what do you need to take care of exactly?" Able asked her.

"Well I was hoping to talk to you about something since we were interrupted earlier," She smiled sweetly at him.

"Oh yeah," Able said as he recalled their earlier conversation, "What were you going to ask me before?"

"Oh well um," she blushed slightly, "Well you look like you're new to town-"

"Bingo. America"

"Right, well I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later, maybe take in the sights sometime?"

Able smiled at her before pulling out a pen and grabbing a napkin and started scribbling on it.

"Here," he handed the napkin to her, "call me whenever you're free, but I probably won't be able to do anything for a while, there's some business I have to take care of here and it'll probably take a while to finish it."

"I see, well I'll keep that in mind, but you'd better not turn me down when I decide to call you," she smiled and one of her teeth popped out over her lip. "Or better yet," she grabbed another napkin and swiped Able's pen from him, "You can just call me when you're done." She handed him the napkin and winked.

_A double tooth when she smiles? Kinda cute, _He thought to himself.

"It's a date," he winked back.

The two left the diner and waved goodbye as they went their separate ways. After walking for a bit Able heard his phone ring.

"So soon? I think I kinda like this girl already."

"Able?"

_Damn._

"Just finished it up Near, on my way back now."

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

"Able…there is another message…"

Able stopped in his track.

"Is it her?"

"It is"

"I'll be back soon"

"Able?"

"What?"

"…I think it's for you."

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A/N

I know the solving of the murder wasn't quite as thought provoking as death note or case closed type stuff, but hey A, Sera, and Conan are geniuses, they don't need much to work with…And I know Conan/Shinchi wasn't a big part of this, but it's for a reason, trust me ;) As always Reviews and shares are loved and appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Calling out for him_**

As Able walked back to headquarters after getting the phone call from Near, he was dreading whatever message it is that's waiting for him when he gets back. On the way he noticed a couple of shadowy figures stalking him.

_What a drag, I really don't want to deal with this right now, _he thought to his self before stopping, with the shadows following suit.

"I really hope this is your first time trying this," he suddenly spoke up, "because you're really bad at following people."

He turned around to notice two large men walking towards him with huge grins on their faces.

"Hey now," one of the men spoke up, "I'd watch what I say if I was you."

He pulled a knife out from behind his back with the other man doing the same.

"Well if you already know we're here," the other man began to speak up, "that saves us the trouble of waiting for you to pass by an ally or some shit."

Able simply stood and stared at the two men with his usual cold analyzing look.

"Now then if you'd be so kind as to hand over your wallet, unless you'd rather have us take it from your corpse," one of the men said with his hand out stretched.

Able stood in the same spot, still staring at the two of them with his only movement being to pull his pockets inside out, showing that aside from his phone which he placed back in his pocket, that he didn't have anything. He had spent what cash he had on him back at the diner.

"Well now that's a shame," one of the thugs spoke up after seeing Able being empty handed, "I guess that means you're about to die for no reason since we can't have you going and telling the cops on us."

"I guess you should blame God for giving you such rotting luck," The other thug told him.

Able chuckled at this.

"Hard to blame something I don't believe in. And if anyone should blame someone for rotten luck it should be the two of you, cause I'm really not in the mood to put up with clowns like you tonight," he said as he stared the two men down.

Able had a tall and slim type build and wasn't exactly what people would call muscular, but he wasn't a push over either, as these two were unfortunately going to find out shortly.

"Hey you ever heard of a dead guy telling jokes?" One of the men asked.

"Nope, but it'll probably be one of the last we ever come across," The other man replied.

Able let out a small sigh. _These guys have no sense of form; _he thought as he looked over the two men's postures, _this is going to be annoyingly easy, especially if I make them mad._

"Is that right," he asked with a smile, "I didn't think it was all that uncommon since you two have been doing it since I caught you."

_Now I just need to wait._

"That's it you little punk!" One of the men shouted as they sprung towards Able with his knife arm raised. However when he went to slash down he received a swift yet firm gut punch from Able, which while it wasn't a knockout punch, it certainly managed to knock the wind out of him for a moment.

The other man charged at Able with the knife stretched forward hoping to catch him off guard, but thanks to Able's small frame he was easily quicker than either of the men and was able to side step the thug with ease.

"I told you I don't have time to deal with you clowns," he said as he looked at the two of them, his eyes becoming like daggers as he stared them down, "and if you don't leave now you're both going to end up regretting it when you wind up in the hospital."

The sucker punched thug stood back up, having regained his breath and stood next to his partner in crime.

"There's no way in hell we're going to run from a brat like you!" They shouted as the charged forward. Able, growing more annoyed by the second with the two of them, took his stance and waited on the two of them to make their move.

The recently revived thug took the lead once more, only to have Able side step him and knock the knife out of his hand with a well-placed kick.

No sooner than his leg finished its incline, the other thug was after him. Able twisted his body with his hips and dropped his still raised leg squarely onto the man's shoulder, dislocating it and causing him to drop his knife and unto the ground in pain as well.

"If you trust your life to a weapon," Able started, with his leg planted back firmly on the ground, "Then you're a fool and you'll life we be short lived," his gaze shifted to the man whom he had disarmed first, "Take your friend to a hospital, it shouldn't take long to put his arm back in place. It'll hurt like hell though."

At this Able turned and walked away from the two thugs, who both still had looks of complete shock on their faces after what had just happened. The two took of full speed, not wanting anything else to do with Able.

_Back at headquarters_

Able let out a long sigh, exhausted from the day's events. He was happy to be back at headquarters. That is until he remembered what was waiting for him.

He took the elevator up to the pent house, and after walking along the corridor walked into the room Roger had brought him to when he had first arrived, and saw Near kneeling in front of a laptop look up at his arrival.

"I'm back," he said lazily, "Sorry it took so long, a hit a small snag after leaving the diner."

"Are you ready to see it?" Near asked, as though oblivious to the second part of Able's statement.

"As ready as I can be." He answered.

"Very well then," Near tilted his head back down to his computer and with a few key strokes, brought up a picture across all the monitors as one huge picture for the two to see.

At seeing the photo, Ables eyes first showed a display of shock, but were soon over powered by a look of anger and he clinched his fist.

"Capable," he muttered to himself, "you really know how to push me."

The photo that spread out across the monitors was one that struck Able down to his very core.

In it there was a small, dim lit room, a small desk against a wall, a chair knocked over on the floor, and the victim. They weren't wearing a shirt, possibly removed by C in order to carve her message into the victim just like the last one, but that wasn't what Able was angry about. The victim was a young man, with short dark hair, with a rope around his neck hanging from his celling fan.

"Damn you C."

"Do you know what the symbols on his body are?" Near asked, trying to pull him back down to earth.

"It's a code probably," he glanced at it, before another wave of shock came over him.

"Do you know what it means?"

"That code...Is one that Capable, Beyond, and myself came up with as kids." He answered, still visibly upset, but focusing himself to calm back down.

Able closed his eyes and thought for a moment. After a few seconds he opened them and looked back to Near.

"It's a clue about where to find her. She's trying to call me out...she knows I'm alive."

Minutes passed, nothing but silence filled the room before Able spoke again.

"I've figured it out, I'm heading over there," He said warily as he left the room, leaving Near to himself, who knew better than to try and stop him.

As Near sat there looking at the photo, an expression that could only be described as sorrowful showed on his face.

"Able," he began to speak to himself, "I hope this case is solved soon. For your sake."

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A/N

It seems Like C may have went a little bit far in trying to get Ables attention wouldn't you say? Reviews are love, so feel free to show it till next time :)


	12. Chapter 12

/Flashback: XX years ago. Location: Wammy's house/

"Hey, some personal space would be nice," complained a young raven haired boy walking down the hall.

"Oh but B," the young girl with mimicking hair clinging to him pouted, "It's been so long since I've been able to spend any time with you or A. Between all of our studies that Roger and Watari keep piling on, the three of us hardly have any time to hang out together anymore."

"I suppose you're right," B commented, trying unsuccessfully to free his arm from the girls clutches, "but that's what happens when you're in the top 3 choices for his replacement."

"How can you be so calm B," the young girl exclaimed, "How can we be a trio if the three of us aren't together anymore? Why can't we all take his place together?"

The pout returned to her face.

"The three of us are the best team there is, we'd be better suited to working with each other instead of competing with each other."

"If that's how you feel then you should stop pouting," the young boy told her, "because he said the same thing to Roger and Watari yesterday, and even L was there. Well on the computer anyway."

"What!?" the female raven all but screeched at him.

"It's true," he shrugged, "they told him about being ranked first for being L's replacement if anything happens, and said that he is without a doubt the right person to replace him and asked if he was up for it."

"And then what?" she asked, eyes wide with anticipation.

"He asked what would happen to us if he accepted the role," he stopped in his tracks.

"B?" the young girl looked up at him, confused as to why he stopped.

"Roger told him that one spot meant just that, one spot. He said that there can only be one L."

He could feel the girl tense up and her grip tighten.

"So then A told them 'If that's the case then why bother with a replacement? If there can only be one L then there is only one L. I am A, he is L. If he dies I would still be A, I wouldn't become him. So if you expect me to take his place I have to refuse because of such a contradicting idea. ' "

The young male turned to the young girl and smirked.

"Then he told them that there isn't any way he would ever abandon us and that 'being part of a trio means just that, I'm one of three,' and that he wouldn't give our team up for anything they had to offer him."

This caused a wide grin to spread across the young girls face.

"And then what?" She asked excitedly.

"Don't know," he shrugged.

"What do you mean you don't know," She pressed the young man for the sudden lack of information.

"All he told me was that L said he understood Able's logic about the situation and that he agreed there can only be one L. After that he said that Roger and Watari tried to kick him out as they were panicking trying to tell L that such a statement was absurd and that a replacement for him was definitely needed, but L asked if that meant someone had to be him to replace him before he hung up. Able's probably getting chewed out by Roger back in the office now for speaking out like that," B said chuckling.

"We should do something together once he gets out," she said thoughtfully.

"Like what," B looked at her quizzically.

At that point another young girl walked past the two, catching the raven haired girls' attention.

"I've got it," she exclaimed and started after the other girl, "Hey Linda wait up, are you busy later? I have a small favor to ask."

The young boy smiled softly as he watched the scene before him before following after the young girl.

/Flashback end/

* * *

_Present day. Location: ?_

_An inseparable trio, _she thought to herself, _there's nothing that can take us from each other, not even L. Right A?_

"What a naïve child I was to think we would always be together," Capable looked over the picture of the three children, which was now on the floor and was covered in small rips, "You didn't give a damn about either of us. It was all a lie. That's why you ran the first chance you got instead of telling us. You wanted to leave it all. Leave everything. Leave us. Well too bad Able, cause I'm dragging you back, and you're going to answer to us for what you did."

* * *

_Crime scene_

Able arrived at the location described in the code carved into Capable's latest victim.

It was a small apartment building, with a shabby exterior and an equally shabby interior. The room remained unchanged from the photo sent from Capable to Roger. Including the victim.

"The place doesn't smell like death," Able spoke, to no one in particular, "So it must not have been that long between the murder and sending us the photo."

One thing that Able had been thinking rather hard over was how C knew that he was alive. She had to know or else she wouldn't have bothered challenging Near with a Code she knew he wouldn't understand. That would take all the fun out of the challenge.

His thoughts shifted back to his first meeting with Near, and his story of how B was rambling about numbers, and some guy who could see life spans. Able was not interested in stories about ghosts or shinigami or anything of the sort, but if B was like that, and C knew about it then maybe she had planned this out. This whole thing is just a show to get his attention.

"It makes sense," He continued to speak aloud, "The reason she would use a code only she and I know due to B's death, and why she would do something like…this," he looked at the victim.

He had been placed in the same position as A would have been, had his suicide attempt years ago been successful.

He searched the victims pockets, though there was nothing in them. Not that he bothered to get his hopes up for such an easy answer.

He glanced around the room, for any more clues C was bound to have left him, when he noticed the desk in the corner. He walked over to it and opened the drawer, and inside there was a note. He didn't have to guess hard about who it was from.

_Able,_

_You left us alone. Everyone thought you were dead but we knew. Why did you leave us? You'll answer us make no mistake. Also, have you had fun playing with the snow? I hope so because you won't get that chance again for a very long time since it's going to melt soon._

_Playing with the snow? _He looked at that part of the letter, unsure of what it meant.

He looked back in the drawer to see an envelope that had been under the note. He probably just missed it due to his curiosity of the note.

He opened to envelope and it was filled with photos. Able took one out and his face was instantly struck with horror.

The photo showed him and Roger entering the headquarters when the first arrived, a photo of him leaving the diner after parting ways with Sera, and one with the two thugs who attacked him…dead.

"If she's been following me then…"

It clicked.

"Near!"

He ran out of the apartment and pulled out his phone and quickly punched in the number for Near.

It rang three times then he heard it pick up.

"Near listen to me you have to-"

"Hello Able," a feminine voice came from the phone.

"Capable," he clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

"You remember, I'm so happy," she said with an obnoxiously fake happy tone.

"What have you done with Near?"

"Why don't you come find out?"

"Damn it Capable why are you-"

_**Click**_

"Damn it!" he shouted as he raced to the car he borrowed from Roger and then back to headquarters.

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A/N

Finally, the hiatus is over! Capable continues attacking Able where it hurts. Just what has Capable done to Near, and what is Able going to do when he finds out? Only time will tell.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Nightmare**_

Able raced back towards headquarters as fast as the car would allow, not bothering to pay attention to the speed limit or concerned about being pulled over. Right now his only concern was getting back to Near.

After what seemed like an eternity of driving, despite all the broken road rules, Able finally made his way back to the Hotel Near had set up as the headquarters, only to see it surrounded by police treating it as a crime scene.

Able got out of the car and ran towards the building, only to be stopped by one of the officers guarding the area.

"I'm sorry sir, but no civilians not allowed into the building at this time," the officer held his hand up as if to provide visual aid that Able wasn't getting past him.

A was in no mood.

"Listen, my friend was in that building, and something may have happened to him," his eyes looked sharply at the officer, "And either you're going to let me in of your own free will or I'm going to make you. Either way I am getting in this building."

The officer didn't seem to care for the attitude he was getting, and was ready to show Able what he thought about it only to have a firm hand grip his shoulder.

"C-Chief Shuichi?" the young officer looked astonished as he turned his head.

"It's ok, let him in…I want to talk to him," the chief said to the young officer.

"B-but Chief that's not-"

"That's an order," the Shuichi said sternly to the officer.

"Y-yes sir," he stammered and raised the yellow police tape for Able to walk under it.

After the death of the previous Chief of the NPA and deputy director, Soichiro Yagami, detective Shuichi Aizawa was promoted to the position after the Kira case was solved.

Able and Chief Shuichi walked into the building, with neither one saying a word till they were sure they were out of ear shot of anyone who might overhear them.

"Do you know just how many people were using this hotel?" the chief asked him.

"The only ones I care about knowing are the two from the penthouse suite," he answered him sternly.

The detective stopped in his tracks.

"And just how do you know the people who were staying there?" Shuichi asked suspicious.

Able figured this guy must have known that Near and Roger were the ones staying there, and given that he let him in this far he must think that Able knows them as well, but since there was no record of him being here before whatever happened occurred, he doesn't know rather Able was really a friend, or the criminal coming back to collect something.

"I was asked to help with a case," he answered, not wanting to give too much away yet.

"And just what kind of case were you-"

Able was getting fed up.

"Tell me what's happened to Near," A spoke to the chief with his anger and annoyance slowly rising to the surface.

Aizawa took the fact that Able seems to know Near and the growing irritation in his voice, as proof that he had nothing to do with the crime at hand and decided to trust him…if only a little. After all, if he did have something to do with it, he wouldn't purposely act like something happened to Near, he would have acted like he was just someone who knew him and was trying to see him…there wasn't any point in giving up the fact that he knew something happened. But he had to make sure of one thing.

"What makes you think something happened to him in particular?" Aizawa said, arching his eyebrow.

"Look," A began, his anger growing, "I don't know what exactly happened, but when I called him on my way back here, the person who picked up was the person who did whatever happened to him. The person is someone he asked me to investigate with him. So it stands to reason that when I get here and the place is surrounded by police that he's the reason why."

_This guy…just who the hell is he? _Aizawa thought to himself, _He's not wrong in his reason for why we're here, but…just who was he investigating. Any ways he's passed enough tests for me to trust he isn't the criminal._

"Alright then," he said, unfolding his arms and motioning A to follow him, "this way, we're going up to the penthouse."

_About damn time, _Able thought as he followed him into the elevator.

"Look…" Aizawa started as the elevator went up, "You're…if Near is really your friend…I don't think you're going to like the state of things."

"What are you talking about?" A looked at him questionably.

"…Near isn't here…The crime scene is…disturbing, and we don't know where he is, not even the FBI agents he had working for him know…but I'm guessing since you should up when you did you're going to know."

When the two of them stepped off the elevator and walked into the room Near had been using as his own, Able couldn't help but look completely horrified at the scene he walked into.

It was like a nightmare come to life.

All the toys Near played with and card houses he built were scattered around the room, bloody, broken, and torn, but that wasn't the nightmare.

There was a doll That looked like Roger, with a small blindfold and its hands tied. And a doll that looked nearly identical to Near in every aspect. The Near doll was crucified on a crucifix planted in the middle of the room. And on the wall, painted in what Able desperately wanted to believe was simply red paint was two words. Two words that sucker punched Able right in the gut. Two words that issued Capables final challenge.

_Come Home_

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A/N

It's here ladies and gentlemen! The final challenge C is issuing to A! What is the meaning of the words? Where is Near? Is he even alive? You're just have to wait and find out! Remember everyone, reviews are love! 3


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